A Long Way to Go: Patient Perspectives on Digital Health for Parkinson’s Disease

Abstract

Digital health promises to improve healthcare, health, and wellness through the use of digital technologies. The purpose of this commentary is to review and discuss the field of digital health for Parkinson’s disease (PD) focusing on the needs, expectations, and wishes of people with PD (PwP). Our analysis shows that PwP want to use digital technologies to actively manage the full complexity of living with PD on an individual level, including the unpredictability and variability of the condition. Current digital health projects focusing on PD, however, does not live up to the expectations of PwP. We conclude that for digital health to reach its full potential, the right of PwP to access their own data needs to be recognised, PwP should routinely receive personalised feedback based on their data, and active involvement of PwP as an equal partner in digital health development needs to be the norm.